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Minerals from Pakistan |
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.... Aquamarine..... |
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Minerals from Pakistan |
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.... Aquamarine..... |
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Aquamarine is the light blue variety of Beryl. This is the birthstone of March.
The name is derived from aqua, that means water, and marine, being the color similar to the sea water. It crystallizes in the hexagonal system, with a typically simple prismatic shape
The color vary from light blue to
the rare variety
of deep blue color, named Maxaxite. The deep blue
color is due to the presence of Borum in the mineral.
Sometimes the color is greenish .
The mineral is typically from pegmatites .
The most important source of
gems is Brazil, from the state of Minas Gerais, where, in the depleted deposit of
Santa Maria 
were found some
exceptional deep blue aquas.
Probably the largest pure aquamarine
was find in 1960 in Brazil: it was more than 50 cm long and was sold for
25,000 € ( of that time ) .
In recent times some other rare occurrences of deep blue aqua were from Pakistan.
In Africa there are several
different areas with aquamarines, Namibia, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Recently
some new finds from
Erongo, in Namibia were on the
market with particular aquas.
Madagascar - usually medium dark blue, not so common, not very transparent .
In Italy aquamarines are relatively
rare. The most famous ones were the aquamarines from the pegmatites in Val Codera, where
in the 80's some aquamarines were found also of gem quality of several centimeters .
Nowadays it is almost impossible to find good samples, but anyway the valley is extremely
beautiful and a trip is worth the effort.
Other famous aquamarines findings were in the gneiss and Sienite quarries in Ossola valley, now completely depleted.
The pegmatites of Elba Island
gave some aquamarine specimens, but
they are much more famous for the elbaites.
The best specimens for collection are those coming from Pegmatites in Northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, in association with other gem minerals, in fantastic druses with fluorite, apatite, topaz on muscovite blades.
In terms of pricing, the most appreciated stones are those with a pure blue color, without any gray . The yellowish greenish samples are the less valuable.
